Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine (CARE-MED)

Research Activity

The Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine (CARE-MED) directed by Prof. Gino Gerosa (PI) and Dr. Anna Maria Tolomeo (Junior PI) studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac pathologies involving the different functional structures of cardiac tissue, from genome to cellular microenvironment. Their alteration can lead to heart failure and thus a reduction in the heart’s ability to perform its normal contractile function, resulting in irreversible damage and the need for transplantation.
In this scenario the CARE-MED researchers’ activities are divided into two main research strands: i) developing patient-specific bioengineered cardiac structures, capable of replacing the organ by reducing the patient’s use of immunosuppressants; ii) determining the cardiac and immune cellular components involved in the onset of various cardiac diseases and studying the plasma of these patients, to identify the molecules responsible for cardiac damage. These will represent a novelty among all emerging technologies, as they will combine strategies based on regenerative medicine techniques to achieve highly specialized personalized medicine.

Projects

Development of an ex-vivo three-dimensional (3D) cardiac tissue platform for clinical use as a pace-maker or laboratory use for drug testing (BIOPACE).
Generation of a total bioengineered heart and its different components.
Determination of the biological age of the transplanted hearts compared to their chronological age and the subsequent evolution once transplanted in a recipient of different age.
Generation in-vivo (porcine) models of “Donation after Circulatory Death”(DCD), for the recovery of hearts suitable for transplantation.
Evaluation of cutting-edge drugs useful for preserving the heart’s functionality during transport to the recipient site after organ harvesting.
Evaluation of cutting-edge technologies from genetically-modified pigs.